Today, on deepening the sense of confession, Benedict XVI said: "We see that mankind would like to be self-sufficient, and a lot of people believe they might almost go without God for living well; but how many people seem sadly condemned to face dramatic situations of existential emptiness; how much violence is still present in the Earth; how much loneliness is weighing on the heart of God in the era of communication". Thus, the Pope pointed out that "in short, today it seems that the ‘sense of sin’ got lost, but on the other hand, ‘guilt complexes’ increased". Therefore, "to throw the heart of man off this death yoke", Benedict XVI re-proposed the Sacrament of Confession as "instrument for God’s merciful love". Thus, he invited the presbyters "to show God’s merciful love through their words and their ways to approach the penitent… never making compromises with evil, but always recovering the walk towards evangelic perfection". According to the Pope, the confessor "must have… respect and delicacy for the fallen ones; he must love truth; he must be faithful to the Teaching of the Church, and patiently lead the penitent towards recovery and full maturity".
